Hello, Everyone!

As you probably have noticed, I have redesigned the site. It took me a bit longer than I expected. There a few tweaks that still need to be made but the major redesign is complete (I think!). You will find on newer pages that if you click on the picture it will take you to a larger one. This will allow you to see more detail in the item featured. Displaying the graphics this way will allow pages to load faster and, hopefully, make your online time more enjoyable.

If you do run across a link that does not work or something is not working properly, please let me know. I want to make reading Victorian Embroidery and Crafts’ site a pleasure. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

What's New!

It is so amazing that there are so many different types of embroidery. It seems every time I think, “Oh, I think I’ll try that!” I find another form of embroidery that catches my eye. Maybe that is why I have so many projects not finished or even started. Oh, so many embroidery types – Oh, so little time! ;-)

Here are two embroidery types you may find interesting:

Rice embroidery – This is a form of White Embroidery. As could be expected, it uses the Rice Stitch extensively. See
Rice Embroidery.

Tinsel Embroidery – This form of embroidery used gold, silver and bronze threads. The threads would eventually tarnish and because of this, it was used primarily by the very wealthy (nobility) or for items for the Church. With today’s threads that emulate these expensive metals, this type of embroidery can be achieved by anyone – and not tarnishing, either!
Tinsel Embroidery.

Two new crafts have been added.

Bath Towel Holder – This craft is amazingly simple, inexpensive, quickly made and oh, so Victorian. It can’t get better than that! Be sure to check it out at
Bath Towel Holder.

Fancy Tidy – This beautiful tidy can be made as elaborate or simple as you need it to be. It would be a welcomed accent anywhere in your home. You can find it at
Fancy tidy.

Other News

For those of you who have been asking for books, your wish is my command! By the end of the month I will have a number of out of print books republished for your reading enjoyment. You will be able to have your own copy of some very hard to find books. Some of the books have been enlarged for easy reading and the pictures enlarged so details can be easily seen. These books will not be spiral or GBC bound. Those kind of bindings are great for laying the book open but they do not fit well on a shelf and you have to take each book down to see what it is. The binding on my books will have writing on the spine (if the spine is wide enough) so that you can tell what it is without taking it off the shelf. I’m really exciting about being able to provide these books to you. New (old?) books will be added as quickly as they are published.

Another item that is in the works and hopefully ready for you this month is a download of a project – with templates and even a colored image for you to put on transfer paper to make your own (hah! You thought I was going to tell you what it is, didn’t you? You’ll have to wait for that!). This is a quick and easy embroidery project and I think you will have fun with it. It is a reproduction of an item made available in the late 1800’s and one every woman needed in almost every room of the house. (No more hints. You’ll have to wait until the next e-zine!)

Comments, Requests and Responses

There were no responses to the questions posted last month. If you do have any information on any one of them, please let me know.

I have received a number of requests that ask the same question: “Where can I learn silk embroidery?” I am asking each and every one of you a favor. If you know where people in your area can learn to embroider, crochet, knit, or any other craft that has been mentioned in Victorian Embroidery and Crafts, please let me know. I will make a page that will list these organizations. If you have a phone number and/or an email address of the contact person, please include that, also.

This is a perfect way to get **FREE** advertising for your company, group, circle, or organization.

(A little legalese: I retain the right to include the listing or not and the right to delete it from the list as I feel necessary.)

Current requests are for silk embroidery classes in:

Toronto, Canada

Mumbai, India

Can anyone help us out?

I will be diligently searching resources myself to add to this list. You can expect to see something on-line in June.

That’s it for this month. I am still working on the projects listed in last month’s ezine so be prepared for some new and exciting projects in the near future.

Keep the questions, comments and answers coming. I love hearing from you.

With warm regards,

Mary

P.S. - If clicking on a link does not take you to the appropriate page, please cut and paste the link (be sure to get all of it) into your browser. This sometimes happens when the links print on two separate lines in an e-mail.